


Hey, Boyfriend

by zxrycyan



Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Clean Mama Shea, Coming Out, Fluff, Fluffy Goodness!, Happy Ending, M/M, more like trying to predict canon, so much fluff your teeth will rot, to a few people at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 11:13:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8443687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zxrycyan/pseuds/zxrycyan
Summary: Mama Shea's gotten out of rehab, Philip is impossibly happy and so is Lukas. They reveal their relationship to a few people, and everything's right on track. There's just one problem - Philip's going to move back to New York, isn't he?





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first philkas fic! Unbeta-ed, but yay! In my mind, this takes place at around the end of eyewitness, because god these boys deserve to be happy. I'm on tumblr @zxrycyan if anyone wants to chat/anything. Hope you enjoy! :)

“Lukas!” Philip is yelling even as his bike’s still clattering to the ground behind him, voice almost trembling with excitement, “Lukas!” 

Lukas turns away from where he’s doing some routine maintenance on his bike, a hissed warning that his father’s inside the house already on his lips. The words die in his throat, however, when he takes in the look of joy, relief and a million other exhilarated emotions on Philip’s face.

He’s never seen the other boy so unmitigatedly, unreservedly _happy._ There’s always something weighing on Philip, a shroud over him like a part of his mind is perpetually somewhere else. (Well, except when their kissing _escalates_ , so to speak.) Lukas supposes there was the whole triple homicide thing, but now that’s been solved and the shroud still hasn’t lifted. He can’t exactly blame Philip though, considering his mother’s in rehab and… 

Oh.  _ Oh.  _

He’s just barely come to this conclusion and stood up when he finds himself with an armful of Philip, the boy clutching at him like hugging is going out of fashion. Which is impossible, because you can never get too much of hugging Philip, but that’s beside the point. One of Philip’s arms is squeezing too tightly around his neck, so he’s in profound danger of asphyxiating, and he can’t imagine that’ll be much appreciated. 

“Can’t breathe,” he manages to choke out. 

The black-haired boy relaxes his hold but doesn’t draw his face away from where it’s buried in the crook of Lukas’ neck. Lukas can feel his grin against his skin, which would normally be quite distracting, but right now he’s too focused on how happy Philip is and how happy he is for Philip.

“Guess what?” Philip asks breathlessly, and Lukas can only imagine that he’s positively beaming. 

“What?” He replies, an answering smile on his face. 

“Helen just texted me that my mom’s got out of rehab! She’s completely clean, I can’t believe it, she said she was getting better but, I mean, it’s real this time and the judge said I can go back and I miss- God, I’m not crying, I swear I’m not-” 

Philip leans back and wipes the back of his hand over his cheeks, but it doesn’t hide how moist his eyes are and Lukas’ heart aches for him, this beautiful, brave, amazing boy. He takes hold of Philip’s face with both palms and gently pulls him in, pressing a tender kiss to his fluttering-closed eyelids and one to his lips.

He knows his father could walk out and catch them anytime, but he doesn’t care, he  _ doesn’t,  _ he just wants his Philip to be happy like that everyday, all the time. He wants to be there to see it, to catch his tears and make him smile. God, how much he wants it. 

Anything he can say now seems too little, but Philip’s waiting for him to say something so he does. “I’m so happy for you,” he whispers, throat oddly scratchy and his voice thick. He’s half horrified at himself - emotions are not his strong point.

Philip’s wiping at his eyes again. “If you cry, heaven help us, I’m never going to stop. It’s going to be a fucking waterfall here, there’ll be rainbows and everything.”

Lukas laughs. He’s never heard Philip say anything remotely dramatic at all - he’s so chill all the time - and it’s a shock as well as a sign of how far gone he is that he loves it anyway. 

“Do you- do you want to go to the city to see her? I could drive you there.” 

“No, it’s alright, social services are going to send her over here tomorrow,” Philip says, sounding like a kid who’s been promised a trip to Disneyland. The only thing missing is the excited jumping up and down. “Said she wanted to see the town I’ve been living in, talk to Helen and Gabe and all that. But I, well, appreciate the offer.” 

Before Lukas can reply, Philip’s smile turns shy and he flicks his eyes up to meet Lukas’ gaze once, hesitantly. “If you want, you could come? Um, meet my mom? But Helen and Gabe will be there and, and I’ll understand if you, y’know, don’t want them to see you.” 

“I’ll come,” Lukas promises before he even thinks about it, hating the slightly disappointed look on Philip’s face when he stopped talking.  _ Be happy! Smile again, forever, all the time! _ he wants to shout at him, which is utterly silly and would ruin his reputation forever. He’s gratified when Philip smiles at him, pleasantly surprised. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, your mum sounds like she-”  _ loves you very much _ , he wants to say, “-’s pretty awesome.” 

Philip gives him a doubtful look, like ‘where on earth did you get that idea when the only thing you know about my mom is that she’s a junkie’, but that’s not true because Lukas also knows that Philip’s mum was cool about the whole gay revelation and that qualifies for ‘pretty awesome’, he thinks. 

Philip’s apparently in too good a mood to go into it, however, because he hums and says, “She is,” with a solemn nod. 

Then, “I’ve got to go; Helen and Gabe are waiting for me for dinner,” he says while hopping onto his bike, “I just had to tell you first, else I might have burst.” 

He turns to go, but Lukas lunges forward and grabs his arm. “Wait, I, ah, thanks.” He ducks his head, feeling the blush suffusing his cheeks. “I mean, thanks for telling me first.” 

When he looks up, he’s greeted with the quietly delighted look that Philip wore after Lukas first kissed him in public, like sometimes he’s unsure if Lukas likes him and these moments affirm it for him. Lukas hates making him feel like that.

Philip pecks him quickly on the nose, grins and rides off down the road.

Lukas hates making him doubt them, and… maybe he’s getting sick of keeping secrets, maybe he’s ready to be honest to his dad and his friends and Helen and Gabe. Philip’s told him that those who matter will learn to accept him, and perhaps those who won’t accept him shouldn’t matter. Or maybe it’s just that Philip matters enough, and he himself matters enough, and their relationship is more than secrets and kisses sneaked when no one else is around. 

Yes, he thinks, they deserve better. 

* * *

The next day is Saturday, unusually sunny for Tivoli, all blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Which is good, because Lukas would be angry if the weather were anything less than perfect for the happiest - or one of the happiest - day of Philip’s life. When had he turned into such a sap?

He rushes through breakfast, not really tasting anything, and gives his dad the standard excuse of meeting some friends for a school project before dashing off. He doesn’t even care that his dad had looked slightly disbelieving (the lie is getting old), he just wants to be by Philip’s side as soon as possible.

The front door flies open before he’s even gotten off his bike, still pulling off his helmet. The door bangs against the opposite wall, eliciting a wince from the black-haired boy and an alarmed ‘Philip?’ from inside the house. 

“Lukas is here!” Philip calls over his shoulder. 

By the time Lukas makes it to the front door, Helen and Gabe are already standing beside Philip, smiling genially at Lukas. He gulps nervously. There’s just something intimidating about the sheriff. 

“Come on in, Lukas,” she says, stepping out of the way with Philip. 

As he steps over the threshold, Gabe speaks up in that calming way he has, “Philip told us yesterday that you’ll be coming over for the day.” They walk down the hallway, Gabe falling into step with him and Philip practically hovering over them. “We’re very thankful that he’ll have some moral support, and that he has such a good friend in you-” 

“Boyfriend,” Lukas blurts, and promptly has an internal one-second breakdown as he wonders if he’d really just said that. Philip bumps into him from behind, making him realise he’d stopped walking.

Gabe and Helen pause as well. “I’m sorry?” Helen asks cautiously. Lukas can barely hear her over the sound of blood roaring in his ears. He feels faint. He doesn’t think he can form words, much less push them past the lump in his throat. 

Philip’s hand sneaks into Lukas’. He clutches tight, almost a reflex. He’s grateful for it, because Philip grounds him a little, but everything feels so surreal. The other boy clears his throat, redirecting attention to him. Thank God for Philip. Lukas will literally be dead by now without him.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Philip says firmly. 

There’s a long silence. 

“Okay,” Helen finally says, dragging out the ‘o’ as she turns to continue walking briskly, “And… why didn’t you tell us this when you came out to us two weeks ago?” 

Philip shakes his head a little as though to snap himself into motion and stutters out ‘I, um’ at the same time that Gabe rebukes, “Helen.” 

“You know the way she is,” he says, this time to the boys, “If you weren’t ready to tell us, we had no right to know. It’s alright.” 

“The way I am?” Helen asks, raising an eyebrow, and Gabe turns back to her. 

“Oh babe, you know what I’m talking about,” he whispers as they enter the kitchen, wrapping an arm around her waist for a moment before moving away to sit. 

Lukas is still semi-frozen in the hallway, so Philip drags him into the kitchen and seats them down next to each other, fingers still interlocked like if they could hold on tightly enough everything else would be fine. It’s evident from the plates and half-eaten pancakes on the table that Lukas had interrupted them in the middle of breakfast, but the mood is all wrong for eating. 

“Would you like anything to drink?” Helen asks Lukas, “Milk, juice, coffee?” 

Lukas might puke up anything he tries to eat or drink right now. “Um, no- no thanks.” 

“Philip’s mother will be here in an hour or so,” Helen says in an obvious attempt to diffuse the tension hanging in the air, “Have you had breakfast? You could join us if you like.” 

“I’ve eaten.” He’s incapable of forming sentences longer than two words now, it seems. He’s similarly incapable of looking anyone in the eye or lifting his gaze up from the highly fascinating wood grains in the table. 

“Are we the first people you’ve told about your relationship?” Gabe ventures.

“I’ve told my mom. That time I went into the city.” Philip sounds nervous too, just a little. Lukas can almost hear him biting his bottom lip.

“And your mom approves?” Philip must have nodded, because his foster father continues gently, a smile hidden somewhere in his tone, “That’s good. That’s very good, actually. Of course, the two of us are perfectly fine with it as well. It’s your life, your decisions. We just want you to be happy. Don’t we, babe?” 

It occurs to Lukas that if his father was anything like Gabe, he’d have come out ages ago, then promptly feels guilty for wishing that his father  _ was  _ Gabe. Bo was a good father, usually. He did his best. 

“Of course. You’re welcome here anytime, Lukas,” Helen assures them, and when Lukas finally looks up it’s to see that the sheriff has a warm smile on her face. She looks way less intimidating and quite a bit younger like that.

“Thanks,” he tries to say, but his voice is somehow shot to hell and he ends up croaking it out instead.

Philip huffs out a laugh before turning solemn again. “Thank you,” he pauses for a moment, “It means something to me. That you’re- okay with this.” 

“It’s what families do, Philip,” Gabe says. 

And Lukas wants to say no, it’s what  _ your  _ family does, but he’ll sound bitter and he  _ is  _ happy for Philip, and happy for himself that at least this part of coming out is good and easy. It makes him feel cautiously optimistic, and he doesn’t want to ruin it. Helen and Gabe are picking up their utensils again, and Philip’s excusing them from the table before pulling Lukas into what Lukas assumes is his room. 

He doesn’t even have a chance to see more than a bed (carelessly made) and a table before being pushed up against the door and kissed messily. A minute or two passes before he has to come up for air, and it’s with their faces inches apart and both of them grinning triumphantly that Lukas finally says his first word to Philip all day, “Hey.” 

And then, because he can, “Boyfriend.” 

Philip shakes his head slightly, chuckling, and mumbles against his lips, “You’re going to kill me.”

“Where’s my ‘hey yourself’?” He asks, mock-affronted.

“I can do better,” Philip says and pulls him back in for another kiss.

* * *

All too soon, Philip’s urged them out onto the porch so that he won’t miss the exact moment that his mother arrives. And because kissing in front of Gabe and Helen is still a step further than either of them want to contemplate, they’re simply sitting there, holding hands, Philip shaking his leg and running a hand through his hair now and again, utterly restless.

It takes what feels like forever, but in reality is probably no more than fifteen minutes, for the black social services car to rumble down the lane. Philip leaps to his feet and races down the steps, pulling the back door open before the car’s even fully stopped. The other three of them follow just a step behind.

“Mom,” he chokes out, and engulfs the woman in a hug. 

For a moment, Lukas is taken aback by how fragile-looking Philip’s mother is. Even though he can’t see most of her, what with Philip clutching her like that, it’s obvious that she’s practically skin and bones, and Lukas is almost worried that she might break if the wind blew too hard. 

“Philip.” She pulls back and kisses her son’s forehead, tears rolling down her sunken cheeks. She’s so thin and gaunt, and Lukas wonders whether it’s because of drugs or rehab or having her child taken away from her. He can only imagine how awful she’d felt. “Honey, my baby boy.”

Suddenly, the scene seems much too private for there to be spectators, so Lukas turns away and stares very hard at the ground instead. 

“I missed you so much,” Philip’s mother says into his hair, and the mumbled, throaty whisper of ‘missed you too’ makes Lukas bite his bottom lip hard enough to taste blood. Even so, his vision’s starting to blur and he blinks furiously. His heart aches in his chest, a good kind of ache - they’ve suffered so much and this, this is their happy ending. 

Finally, they’ve got a happy ending. 

After a while, Philip’s mother clambers out of the car and Philip tucks himself neatly against her side. As Helen and Gabe introduce themselves, the driver comes around to the back to lift out her suitcase - apparently, she’ll be staying at an inn for the next couple of days - and wish Anne Shea well. By the time he’s driving off, Anne has turned to regard him with pleasant surprise. 

“Lukas Waldenbeck, nice to meet you,” his manners compel him to say and stick out a hand, even though he’s all jittery with nerves. This is important, isn’t it? Meeting the parents, or, well, the parent? 

“I know who you are,” she says while shooting a distinctly eager look at Philip, which makes him flush instantly. Lukas wonders vaguely what Philip had said about him.

“Anne Shea,” she returns with a handshake. Her fingers are bony and thin and nothing like her son’s, but her grip is firm and her smile warm. “You’re  _ that  _ Lukas, aren’t you?” 

“Mom,” Philip protests and Lukas blushes, even though he’s not exactly certain what she means. 

“ _ That  _ Lukas?” He repeats. 

“Oh, you know,” she giggles, and Lukas realises that she’s got an oddly teenager-y air hanging about her. 

“He’s my boyfriend,” Philip confirms, face almost entirely red, and Lukas gives a nod as support or clarification or something. Coming out to three people in a day might be his limit, he thinks faintly.

“I’m so glad,” she enthuses, “Have you been good to my son, Lukas?”

“Mom!” 

“What? It’s important!” She insists, cupping his cheek in her calm, “I haven’t taken really good care of you, honey, but I promise I’ll do better. And a mother will always wish her son to have lots of people around him who care for him.” 

Philip’s embarrassed but also clearly pleased by that, and he says with a small smile, “They’ve all been good to me - Helen and Gabe and Lukas. You don’t have to worry about anything.” 

“You’re the best son I could ask for,” she whispers, heartbreakingly sincere, kissing her son on the cheek. 

Philip ducks his head at that, but he also looks like he’s happy enough to cry. 

Lukas spares a thought that perhaps someone had cursed them to form an empathic bond because he’s happy enough to cry too, but he’s just being stupid, he knows. He’d fallen so far and so fast for this boy, he hadn’t even had the time to blink. 

* * *

Anne Shea and Philip stay at an inn five minutes’ drive away from the sheriff’s house for the entire next week. Philip’s excused from school so that they can spend all their time together, and Lukas doesn’t see much of him. He spends one evening after school with them, long enough to learn that Mama Shea is really a kind-hearted, delightful person and that Philip’s needed this for very long - spending time with his mum, just the two of them. So Lukas leaves them alone for that week, only texting Philip every night to check how he’s doing. 

Instead, he begins to worry about a whole new problem: now that his mother is clean and they can be reunited, Philip is going to move back to the city, isn’t he? It's clear he loves New York and he’s never fully settled in here; he’s a city boy through and through. And what would become of their relationship then? 

But he knows Philip has more important things to care about - namely  _ his mother is back _ \- so he keeps the question carefully to himself. Still, he can’t stop thinking: maybe it’s just a fling to Philip, maybe once he goes back to New York he’ll find himself someone else to fool around with and forget all about that pathetic, blond, small town boy, maybe-

_ No,  _ he tells himself. After all they’ve been through together, after all Philip had done for him and how long he’s tolerated Lukas being an asshole, he can’t doubt his boyfriend like that. It feels like betrayal.

So when Philip rides over to his house at the end of the week, after his mum left for the city (Lukas’ dad is out somewhere near the cabin - they don’t go in there anymore because, well, knowing that three guys died there kind of makes anyone want to vomit), Lukas is fully prepared to be Mature and an Adult and Properly Negotiate how to have a working long-distance relationship. 

Instead, Philip accosts him at the doorway, grinning the way that makes Lukas’ mind blank out sometimes, and asks eagerly, “Guess what?”

His smile is infectious. “Careful, you’re going to spoil me. I’ll be expecting brilliant news every time you say ‘guess what’ if you carry on.” 

“It is! Mom says social services is gonna help her find a job and we’ll clean up the apartment, then you can come stay over - the place is tiny, though - and I’ll show you the city. Time Square and all the lights and gay clubs and everything. It’ll be awesome.” 

But Philip seems to pick up on the way Lukas’ mood is starting to droop, the way he’s fiddling with his shirt anxiously. “Hey, what’s wrong? Is there something bothering you?” 

Lukas wants to say no, doesn’t want to ruin Philip’s unending excitement, but he’s starting to realise that he won’t help matters by keeping things to himself. Philip will still worry, and in order to Properly Negotiate, he has to point out the problem first. 

“It’s just, we won’t be going to school together anymore or living within biking distance, we won’t be able to get drunk and do stupid things together and, and, what if you find some other boy you like?” He says the last part so softly and rushed that he’s not sure if Philip would hear him.

Apparently he does, because he exclaims vehemently, “What? Don’t be stupid! I’ve got you, why would I even glance twice at other boys?” He pauses, asks slowly and slyly, “Hey, are you jealous?” 

Lukas laughs before he can stop himself and shoves him lightly. “You want me to be,” he quotes, then clarifies, because it’s important, “And yes, I will be.” 

He leans in for a quick kiss, which perhaps turns out not as quick as he’d intended it, but when he pulls back he insists, “I’m serious. What will we do?”

“High school’s almost over and if you haven’t got plans for afterwards maybe you could, um, come to the city? Maybe attend college there? In the meantime, we can visit each other every weekend - my mom’s actively encouraging you to come regularly, actually. She likes you. We’ll still do loads of fun, stupid stuff together. It’ll be fine,” Philip assures him, though he sounds a little uncertain himself.

“I…” Lukas hesitates. “I guess, if I tell my dad about- about us.” He stops, taking in Philip’s wide eyes and slightly parted mouth, shock morphing into a look tender enough to make Lukas melt. Certain he’s doing the right thing now, he plunges on, “He’s already suspicious of all those lies I’ve been feeding him anyway. So if I tell my dad about us, maybe, maybe he’ll let me spend every other weekend in the city with you.” 

He doesn’t mention the possibility that his dad might kick him out of the house altogether, but he’s more optimistic now. Bo’s old-fashioned, but he loves his son and some part of Lukas really does think maybe his dad already knows, anyway. Philip’s right, it’ll be fine. 

“The things you do for me,” Philip mutters into his collarbone, arms tight around him. The blond returns the hug, trying to squeeze the both of them closer together, even though there’s not an inch of space left between them. 

“The things I do for you,” he agrees, grinning into curly black hair. 

“And besides,” Philip continues after a moment, pushing slightly away, “ever heard of Skype?” The way he’s smirking and gazing at him through his eyelashes tells Lukas that he’s teasing him.

“I grew up in a village, not the prehistoric age,” he retorts, making the other boy laugh. Times like this, Lukas is sure he can subsist on Philip’s laughter alone. 

“God,” Philip says, shaking his head, “How can I love you so much?” 

He freezes, and Lukas freezes, and two seconds later he feels his heart explode messily everywhere and something so very close to ecstasy pumps through his veins, sweet and warm as honey. 

“Love you too,” Lukas replies,  _ it’s impossible not to,  _ and smiles. 


End file.
